Tsunashi Takuto, Shindou Sugata, Agemaki Wako, Miyabi Reiji, Nichi Keito, Marino You, Watanabe Kanako
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「封印の巫女」 (Fuin no Miko)
“The Maiden of the Seal”
The sound of a maiden song returns after two episodes, and surprisingly without a trip into Zero Time for only the second time this series. Focusing on the characters instead in the real world, this most recent episode quickly became my favorite thus far, as the story finally shifted towards the conclusion of Mizuno’s arc and the inevitable breaking of her seal.
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「アインゴットの眼」 (Aingotto no Me)
“Ayingott’s Eyes”
It’s the midpoint of the series and with it come new opening and ending sequences featuring songs by 9nine and SCANDAL. That’s not all though, as the plot moves forward with the highly sought after third phase in sight, and some on screen confirmation on who the fourth and final maiden is. Much like the bus scene back in episode eight foreshadowed, the end of this latest episode has all signs pointing to Keito (Ivrogne) as the east maiden.
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「恋する紅い剣」 (Koi Suru Akai Ken)
“The Loving Red Sword”
Either hairstyles and colors don’t stand out as much as they seem or some characters just don’t bother to take notice, as the secret “Kiraboshi” greeting often leaves me both amused and dumbfounded by the surprised reactions. Take Benio for example: “Oh, so you’re Ivrogne.” Me: “… (lol)”
Note: The STAR DRIVER broadcast is on break next week. Episode 14 airs on January 9th.
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「ガラス越しのキス」 (Garasu-goshi no Kisu)
“Kiss Beyond the Glass”
Whether you like Kanako’s promiscuous personality or not, it’s hard to deny how she spices things up by teasing Takuto about kissing her through the glass. Judging by her behavior, it has no bearing on the brigade’s plans to take their Cybodies to the fifth phase and out of Zero Time either. Instead, it’s just her way of enjoying her high school life, which works for me since this series is intended to be as much about school life as it is Cybodies.
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「サイバディの私的活用術」 (Saibadi no Shiteki Katsuyou Jutsu)
“Personal Use of Cybodies”
It was only last episode that I was hoping to see Sugata show everyone who’s the ruler around these parts, and this very next episode delivered when he decided to use his King’s Pillar to even things up. After witnessing that and how he took Head’s words to heart about using abilities one’s been blessed with, I’m already looking forward to the prospect of seeing Samekh in action before long.
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「そしてマリノの初恋」 (Soshite Marino no Hatsukoi)
“And Marino’s First Love”
When it comes to a baseball episode, leave it up to the “springtime of youth idiot” Tsunashi Takuto to draw wary eyes from all the Kiraboshi Juuji Dan members with his dazzling play style.
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「そんなミズノの初恋」 (Sonna Mizuno no Hatsukoi)
“Mizuno’s First Love”
Suffice to say, this episode pleased me on many levels, both in terms of story and my own personal gloating rights.
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「いつだって流星のように」 (Itsudatte Nagareboshi no yō ni)
“Always Like a Shooting Star”
I certainly didn’t expect Takuto and Sugata’s confrontation to turn out like this, and truthfully, I have mixed feelings about it.
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「遠い世界」 (Tōi Sekai)
“A Faraway World”
So, who didn’t see this plot twist coming?
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「王の柱」 (Ō no Hashira)
“The King’s Pillar”
Despite what the preview showed last week, I was half-expecting this episode to end up in Zero Time again, with Sugata in the pilot seat being the only difference. Going into the episode with those mixed feelings, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that that was not the case. Instead, we were given some nice action scenes outside of Zero Time, something we haven’t seen since the little scuffle between Takuto and George in episode 1.